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It is fair because States are sovereign. The United States is a Union of States, after all. The Union is predicated on the States agreeing to certain terms and
by Dalewyn 4y ago
It is fair because States are sovereign. The United States is a Union of States, after all.
The Union is predicated on the States agreeing to certain terms and conditions that guarantee certain State Rights while compromising on others.
One such compromise is representation within the Union, whereby the Lower House (House of Representatives) has the States represented proportionally by population and the Upper House (Senate) has the States represented equally regardless their population. Territories that aren't a State receive no representation.
Additionally, the Lower and Upper Houses each have different duties and powers afforded to them. The Lower House legislates matters concerning money, among other things, while the Upper House legislates matters concerning government appointments and foreign diplomacy (eg: treaties), among other things. Both Houses must also agree with each other on any bills that are intended to go to the President for signing into law.
The States in the Union are tantamount to independent countries in most other contexts, so States' Rights are a very big deal.
- svachalek 4y agoThis sounds like it was written in 1860. States have not been tantamount to independent countries in a time where anyone currently alive could remember.
- pc86 4y agoAlmost a hundred years before that, but yeah that's kind of the point. Prior to 1913 Senators weren't even elected by the popular vote, they were elected by state legislators. Literally elected by the State. One could argue that actually makes more sense.
- prepend 4y agoRight the senate is kind of like how in the UN each country only has one vote. It’s by design that Luxembourg and China have the same votes.
- Matl 4y agoThe UN comparison doesn't make much sense to me; in the context of the UN these are states with often vastly different languages, cultures, histories etc. not the case for the U.S. or at least nowhere near the same extent.